"It means that I've had a terrific group of kids," he said. "The nice thing for me was that I was able to do it in 18 years, which is pretty quick."

Wejnert named some of the superstars he's coached: Lindsay Davis, who is now the girls basketball head coach at Northern Valley/Demarest, Alyssa May, Breane Depkin, Maureen Kehoe and his most recent standout, Kate Brock.

"I've had tons of good kids," the coach added. "This is what you need to get up there."

River Dell began its season 1-1 with a loss to Summit before running off 11 straight wins.

"I would say [I'm] pleasantly surprised at how we've played," Wejnert said. "You always want to get off to a good start. But we do have a very young, very new team. I would say, if you told me before the first game that we were going to be 12-2 [on the cutoff day for the Bergen County tournament], I'd sign on for that."

Because of graduation losses, it was hard for Wejnert to predict how this season would turn out.

Only his three captains — Kayleen Melvin, Emily McGovern and Kayla McGovern — had any varsity experience. And the trio has much different, more defined roles, than last season.

"Honestly, we didn't really know what we were going to get from the team," Wejnert said. "They've played well together. They've developed as a group, as opposed to individuals."

The biggest catalyst for the 11-game win streak is "how we played together as a group. Defensively, we're doing all the things that we need to do. Every time we go out, we get a little bit better on offense," the coach said.

River Dell has received contributions from the starting five, as well as the bench.

Melvin is the Hawks' leading scorer at roughly 12 points per game. The McGoverns, who are cousins, Jeana Coppola and Jen Osterloff provide "good points, good rebounds and good defense."

The Hawks played in summer leagues and took part in team camps to help prepare for the season.

"It's a good feeling," Wejnert said, "because they've been rewarded for their hard work."

Before the tournament cutoff, River Dell, the top team in the Big North Patriot Division, earned a win over Westwood, win No. 405 for Wejnert.